Alanis Morissette oughta know that her decision to hawk her latest CD through Starbucks was perceived as a slap in the face to traditional music retailers.
In response, at least one retailer is showing just how quickly Morissette can be replaced in its inventory.
After Morissette's label, Maverick Records, chose to give the coffee purveyors exclusive rights to her 10th anniversary acoustic edition of Jagged Little Pill for the first six weeks of its release, HMV, the largest music chain in Canada, pulled the singer's records from its shelves in protest.
"As of June 13, HMV will be removing all Alanis products from our stores, consistent with the views of the majority of our customers, and will be returning all Alanis product to the record company," the U.K.-based retailer's CEO, Humphrey Kadaner, wrote in an email to Canadian news outlets last week.
Morissette said that she was not trying to offend traditional retailers by offering her album through Starbucks.
"My intention certainly was not to ruffle feathers in that department although it's inevitable obviously," Morissette told the Boston Herald. "I have had a really sweet and positive relationship with retailers my entire career."
However, the singer said she believes Starbucks is the right place for her fans to access her latest album.
The caffeine-enabling chain has become something of a force in the music industry of late with its Hear Music unit, which successfully promoted Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company album, as well as the debut of emerging girlie rockers Antigone Rising.
Hear Music also puts together compilation discs featuring the music of artists such as Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen and Lucinda Williams. Now it can add Morissette to its list of favored artists.
"When people walk into Starbucks--beyond the fact that they're focused on getting coffee--there's a real openness and a focus to behold and take in whatever may be on that counter, and I think this record is a special record," Morissette told the Herald.
HMV isn't the only retailer to take issue with Morissette's alliance with Starbucks.
Mike Dreese, CEO of Boston's Newbury Comics, said the singer's decision won't be easily forgotten.
"It does have repercussions in the industry," Dreese told the Herald. "Once an artist does that, we kind of take it personally. We're certainly not going to show Alanis Morissette a great deal of favor in the future."
The Rolling Stones faced a similar backlash in 2003, when they offered their DVD Four Flicks exclusively through Best Buy for the first four months of its release.
Meanwhile, with the release of her latest album out of the way, Morissette may start thinking about wedding plans. Or, then again, maybe not.
The singer and her boyfriend, Ryan Reynolds, got engaged last year, but have yet to set a date.
In an ABC interview slated to air Friday, Morissette said "the feminist" in her "has had a lot of issues with the whole concept of being a wife."
"What does that mean in 2005, versus what it means in the '40s and even in my mom's generation?" she asked.
The singer is currently in the midst of her Diamond Wink Tour in support of the acoustic album.